Vehicular fire fighting equipment



April 27, 1965 w. F. GIBBS VEHICULAR FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT 6 Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed July 26, 1963 INVENTOR WILLIAM FRANCIS GIBBS HIS ATTORNEYS 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR H 15 AT TORN EYS WILLlAM FRANCIS GIBBS April 27, 1965 w. F. GIBBS VEHICULAR FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT Filed July 26, 1963 April 27, 1965 w. F. GIBBS VEHIGULAR FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 26, 1963 INVENTOP WILLIAM FRANCIS GIBBS HIS ATTORNEYS April 27, 1965 w. F. GIBBS VEHICULAR FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 26, 1963 INVENTOR WLLIAM FRANCIS GIBBS M 2 HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 0 3,180,423 VEHICULAR FIRE FEGHTENG EQUEPMENT Wiliiarn Francis Gibbs, New York, N.Y., assignor to Mack Trucks, inc, Montvale, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 26, 1963, Ser. No. 297,787 9 Qlairns. (Cl. 169-24) This invention relates to fire fighting equipment and, more particularly, to fire fighting apparatus capable of supplying water under high pressure and in great volume to a fire from a remote source.

Among the difiicult problems encountered by the fire fighters or firemen are obtaining enough water to quell a fire and obtaining sutficient water pressure to direct a stream into the heat of the fire Where the water is most effective in extinguishing the fire. For example, in large cities where a heavy drain on the water supply occurs, firemen frequently find that the water pressure at the hydrant is insufficient to enable a fire to be fought from a safe distance. In these circumstances the firemen must enter the building and are in serious danger of being injured and killed by collapsing ceilings, walls or the like. This danger exists also when the space for fighting a fire is limited as, for example, in narrow city streets.

When attempting to fight fires at places remote from fire hydrants, it frequently is impossible to lay enough hose or to bring enough fire companies to the scene of the fire to efiectively control and extinguish the fire. Thus, in grass or brush fires in the outskirts of cities or towns, where hydrants are not available to which hoses can be connected, conventional fire fighting equipment cannot supply water under pressure to the fire area. Also, in fighting fires in lumber yards, it usually is impossible to project the water from the hoses far enough into the yard to do much more than wet down the area around the fire and keep it from spreading.

In accordance with the present invention, fire fighting equipment is provided which is capable of withdrawing water from sources such as ponds, lakes, rivers, harbors and the like, or low pressure hydrants and delivering it at high pressure and in great volume to remote points where the water is most effective.

More particularly, in accordance with the invention, the new fire fighting equipment includes a pumping unit by means of which water can be withdrawn from a source of the type mentioned above and supplied at several hundred pounds pressure and at the rate of several thousand gallons a minute to a tender which is provided with a monitor and is capable of laying hoses to connect the monitor to the pumping unit whereby a fire can be fought at a great distance from the Water source. Pressures are developed by the pumper which are sufiicient to provide a stream of water of such power that holes can actually be punched in many types of buildings so that it is unnecessary for the firemen to enter the building in order to reach the fire center. In this way, the fire can be fought from the outside of the building or around the perimeter of a grass fire or lumber yard fire Without endangering the lives of the firemen.

In a typical fire fighting unit, the pumper is provided with a multi-stage pump which is driven by a sufliciently powerful engine that water can be withdrawn from bydrants even when the water pressure at the several hydrants is low or from a source of no pressure such as a lake, ocean, river or the like and supplied at pressures of 350 and 700 pounds per square inch and corresponding rates of 8,800 to 4,400 gallons per minute. At these pressures and volumes, the water from a 2%. inch monitor can be projected well over 1,000 feet and with the form of monitor and hose tender embodying the present invention, the monitor may be located as far as 2,000 feet from the pumper, thereby enabling the pamper to supply water over a large area as may be required and enabling portions of a city or a country area to be supplied with water which otherwise would be far beyond the reach of the equipment on conventional fire engines.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the pumping unit of a fire fighting equipment embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the hose tender and monitor of the fire fighting equipment embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic illustration of the system embodying the present invention in use wherein Water is being supplied from a series of fire hydrants;

FIGURE 4 is a schematic illustration of the fire fighting equipment in use with the pumping unit drawing water from a source such as a river or the like;

FIGURE 5 is a View in cross-section taken on line 55 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of a detail of a level wind mechanism for the hose tender; and

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational View of a portion of the level wind mechanism showing details thereof.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the pumping unit or pumper of the new fire fighting equipment is illustrated therein as including a tractor T which may be of any suitable type and, for example, can be a dual rear axle tractor driven by means of a diesel or other internal combustion engine. Drawn by thevtractor T is a trailer 12 having a heavy frame 13 and supported by dual rear axles having wheels 14 and 15 on opposite sides of the trailer. Mounted at the rear of the trailer frame 13 is a pump in which is capable of supplying large volumes of Water at high pressure. A suitable pump is a six stage centrifugal pump manufactured by De Laval. Such a pump can supply water at the rate of 8,800 gallons per minute at a pressure of 350 pounds per square inch, or 4,400 gallons per minute at 700 pounds per square inch.

A powerful engine is required for driving a pump of the type described and to that end, a diesel or similar internal combustion engine 17 is mounted on the chassis frame 13. A suitable diesel engine is Napier Deltic engine having a rating of between about 2,200 and 2,400 brake horsepower at 1,800 rpm. The engine 17 is connected to the pump by means of a suitable fiexible co-upling 13 to compensate for any slight misalignment of the output shaft of the engine with the drive shaft of the pump. Also carried by the trailer 12 are such other components as are normally required in the operation of the engine 17 and the pump 16. Thus, the engine may be provided with an exhaust pipe 1% which com.- miuiicates with an exhaust silencer or muffler 20. Also, the trailer 12 carries a fuel oil tank 21 over which is superimposed the air intake filter 22 for the engine. The

1 3 filter is connected by means of the manifold 23 to the engine for supplying combustion air for the engine.

In order to facilitate starting of the engine, it may be provided with the usual fuel oil hand pump 24, a lubricating oil hand pump 25, which is connected with a lubricating oil tank as and the oil cooler for lubricating oil 27. Also an exterior control panel 28 is mounted above the oil cooler to enable the operation of the engine to be observed from the side.

The tractor T also carries and its engine drives accessories for use in the operation of the engine 17 and the pump 16. Mounted on the frame 29 of the tractor is a priming pump 30 driven'by the truck engine by means of which water can be supplied for priming the cen-' trifugal pump 16 to put it into operation. In addition, the tractor engine drives an air compressor 31 which supplies air to the compressed air tank 32 for starting the engine 37, and also may be used for operating brakes and the like on the vehicle. a I

Referring back to the pump 16, the intake of the pump includes a plurality of suction pump connections 33, 34, 35, 36, and so forth, the purpose and use of which will be described later. Also the pump is provided with a plurality of pump discharge connections 37, 38, 39, and 40' by means of which water is supplied to a series of hose lines to carry the water to a remote point. Suitable valves are provided, as will be understood, for making the necessary connections and controlling the flow of water to and from the pump 16.

Carried in a rack 41 beneath the frame 13 of the trailer are a series of hard hose sections 42, 43, and so forth, which are capable of withstanding a very substantial exterior pressure without collapsing. trated, the rack carries 12 sections of hard hose which can be coupled end-to-end to connect to fire hydrants or draw water from a lake, river or other water source, Also, carried by the rack 41 are a series of strainers 44 which are attached to the ends of the hard hose sections 7 when withdrawing water from a lake, river or the like;

A cooperating hose tender for the fire fighting equipment is shown in FIGURE 2. The tender also includes a tractor 50 similar to the tractor T for towing a trailer 51 which carries hose reels, each of which carries a length of hose H H H and H to be connected to the pump 16 and carries water to a point as much as 2,000 feet distant from the pumper. To that end, the four hose reels, 52, 53, 54 and 55, are mounted for rotation in a frame 56 carried by the trailer 51. Each of the reels can be driven in counterclockwise and clockwise directions by means of a hydraulic motor 57 connected by means of a chain 58 to a. sprocket 59 aflixed to the reel 55, for example. The other reels are driven by similar hydraulic motors. Each reel is of such size that it carries 2,000 feet of 4 /2 inch diameter flexible hose. The hose is usually obtained in 100-f0ot length which are connected by means of suitable hose couplings. In this way, when the hoses have been coupled to the outlets 37, 38, 39 and 40 of the pump 16, four hose lines, each 2,000 feet long, can be laid out by moving the tender and simultaneously driving the reels 52 to 55 to unwind the hoses. In order to enable the hoses to be payed out and retrieved readily, the frame 56 is provided with hose guides including uprights 60, 61 and 62 carrying freely rotatable rollers spanning the width of the reels; For example, the hose H from reel 55 is supported by the rolls 63, 64 and 65 carried by uprights on the frame 56, andthe hose from the reel 54 is supported by the lower rolls 66 and 67 on the uprights 6i) and 61. The hoses H and H on the reels 52 and 53 are payed out or retrieved from below.

Inasmuch as the hoses should be flattened for winding and should be laid out uniformly across the width of the hose reels, each of the reels is provided with a level wind mechanism which, .in combination with the guide rolls 63 to 67, flattens the hoses and thus stores them As illusthe frame 56 on each side of the trailer is provided with FIGURES 6 and 7 a supporting bracket 7d which carries at its trailing edge a support member 71 welded 'orotherwise secured thereto. A pillow block '72 on top of the bracket receives rot-atably a shaft 73 having at one end a sprocket 74 (FIGURE 2) which is driven by means of a chain 75 from a sprocket 76 rotatable with the sprocket 5? on the hose reel so that the shaft 73 is rotated as the reel rotates. Also mounted in the bracket 71 is a guide shaft 77 which spans the width of the hose reel and carries, as shown in FIGURE 7, a stirrup-like member 78'having a roller '79 between the lower end of the arms 89 and $1 thereof. The member 78 is secured to an inverted U- shaped member 32 which is provided with anti-friction bearings 33am 84 slidably received on theshafit77 so that the member 82 can slide freely back and forth along the shaft transversely of the corresponding hose reel. Fixed to the upper side of the U-shaped member 82 is another atrame member 85 which carries a tubular bushing 86 slidably receiving the shaft 73. The frame .member 85 may be articulated and suitably reinforced in order to maintain proper alignment of the parts with the shafts 73 and 77. As shown in FIGURE 7, the shaft 73 is provided with cross-threads or grooves 83 in which is engaged a pin an secured to the bushing $6. With such cross threading, rotation of the shaft 73 in one direction will cause the bushing 86 and the other elements connected therewith to reciprocate back and forth across the width of the reel as the reel rotates. Inasmuch as the hose passes between the arms 8% and 81 of the frame and is supported by the roller 79, it will be guided back and forth across and laid smoothly on the corresponding reel. Similar level winds may be provided for guiding the hose overhead to the reels 54 and 55. The level winds for the reels 54 and 55 may be inverted with respect to the level winds for the reels 52 and 53. The hoses are payed out and retrieved by an operator at a control station 9%? at the rear of the trailer. Suitable valves are provided to actuatethe motors 57 to pay out or take up the, hose on the reels. If desired, the control station 99 may be mounted so that it can be swung around. to one side of the vehicle for better viewing of the hoses as they are being payed out and retrieved. Also the rear axles of the trailer on which thewheels @1 and 92 are mounted, may be of a dirigible orsteerable type and may be provided with hydraulic power steering under the control of the rearwardly mounted'steering wheel 93 to facilitate backing and steering the trailer and tractor while the hoses are all being retrieved. Auxiliary steering systems of the above described type are used on ladder trucks and the like and are well known in the art.

The trailer may also be provided withia rack 94 which carries additional lengths of hard suction hose 95 which may be used as required.

Hydraulic power for operating the motors and the power steering is provided by a suitable engine-driven pump (not shown) carried by the tractor 5d and driven by the engine of the tractor. Accumulators and the like may be provided in the hydraulic system for maintenance of pressure in the usual way.

Also mounted on the frame of the tractor 5d behind the cab Silo thereof is a monitor 96 by means of which water can be projected into the fire area. The monitor includes the usual interchangeable nozzles 97 of different sizes mounted on a vertical pipe 98 which is rotatably mounted in the monitor'base 99 and can be rotated in a horizontal are by means of a hand wheel MP0. The nozzle can also be elevated by means of a suitable hand wheel 101 to control the direction of the stream in a vertical plane; Inasmuch as water is supplied to the monitor at very high pressure and volume as indicated previously, it has been found essential to brace the tractor frame and monitor against the thrust of the water in order to control its direction. To that end, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 5, the monitor 96 is mounted on a raised platform 162 above the truck frame which is pro- Vided with a protective railing 1G3.

Mounted beneath the platform 192 and carried by the tractor frame 164 are a pair of outriggers 105 and 106 which can be retracted to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 5 or projected to the full line position shown in FIGURE 5. Each outrigger includes a lower outrigger plate 107 which is pivotally connected at its inner end between a pair of rigid plates 108 secured at their inner ends to the outer sides of the tractor frame 164 and to vertical angle irons 1439 which extend between the platform N2 and the frame 104. Also, a hydraulic cylinder 110 has its piston 111 pivotally connected to the outrigger member 197 and its cylinder pivotally connected at 112 between the plates 108. By introducing the liquid under pressure into one end of the cylinder 116, the piston Ill is projected to force the outrigger plate 1G7 against the ground where it may be retained in locked position by means of a ratchet 113 on the piston rod and a hydraulically actuated pawl 114 carried by the cylinder. When hydraulic liquid is admitted to the other end of the cylinder, the piston 111 is retracted and the outrigger plate 197 and the cylinder due to their triangulated relation will swing to the dotted line position shown in FIG- URE. 5. The hydraulically actuated pawl 114 is retracted at the time the piston 13.1 is retracted to enable the piston to move into the cylinder 110. In this way the monitor can be stabilized and leveled so that the water can be directed from the monitor in any direction and the monitor held steady against the back-thrust of the water.

As best seen in FIGURE 5, the base of the monitor is provided with tour couplings 115, 116, 117 and 118 from which four flexible hoses can be attached to respective connections at the forward end of the trailer 51, leading through respective conduits (not shown) in the body of the trailer 51 to corresponding connections 115A, 116A, 117A, and 118A, at the rear thereof to which the hoses carried by the tender can be connected to supply water to the monitor.

One manner in which the new fire fighting equipment can be utilized is shown in FIGURE 3 which illustrates schematically a city area with buildings in dotted lines and various fire hydrants are shown as located throughout the area. In the case of large fires, or heavy drain on the water supply, the water pressure in the immediate area of the fire frequently drops to the extent that insufiicient water is available for fire fighting purposes. In these conditions, the new fire fighting equipment is brought into use and the pumper is located in an area where water pressure is available and is coupled by means of suction hoses in suitable length to a plurality of fire hydrants, e.g., four hydrants as shown. The hoses may be coupled to the inlet ports 35, 3:: on opposite sides of the suction coupling of the pump 16 shown in FIGURE 1. The hoses H H H and H are coupled to the outlets 37, 38, 3? and 4d of the pumper and the hose tender is then transported by its tractor to the vicinity of the fire while the hose is being payed out from the reels on the tender. On reaching the zone of the fire, the hoses are connected to the couplings 115A to 123A of the monitor and the pamper is set into operation. The hoses are capable of transporting the entire output of the pumper to the monitor where the streams are combined to produce a high velocity jet which is capable not only of projecting a stream of water a great distance, but of actually punching holes through the walls of frame, brick buildings or the like in order to bring the water into contact with the heart of the fire. The range of the stream is such that the tender and monitor can be disposed at a safe distance from the fire and out of the range of falling walls and the like, thereby greatly increasing the safety of the firemen and the operators of the equipment.

FIGURE i illustrates another use of the pumper. As shown in FIGURE 4, a built-up area including buildings shown in dotted lines is adjacent to a source of water such as a river or a lake. In this case, the hard hoses are connected to the end couplings 33, 34, etc., of the intake of the pump and they are provided with strainers 44 on their suction ends and are immersed in the body of water. When the pumper is set into operation, it supplies four lines of water to the monitor where it is used in the manner described above. Also, hose lines of individual fire companies maybe connected to one or more auxiliary connections 120 and 121, for example, on the sides of the trailer 51, which are connected through suitable pressure reducing valves (not shown) to the high pressure conduits in the body of the trailer 51 to provide a plurality of streams of water for fighting the fire.

After the fire has been quelled, the hoses are taken up on the hose reels by backing the tender and monitor tractor trailer along while the operator at the rear station of the tender guides the tractor trailer and also controls the operation of the reels in taking up the hoses and laying it on the reels. In this way, it is possible to maneuver the tender and monitor in rather restricted quarters and yet pick up and carry away the hoses in a reasonable period of time.

It will be understood that cooperating pumpers and tenders of the type described above are useful in many areas and particularly in larger cities having Waterfronts where water is available and where water is not readily carried by mains to the immediate area. It also serves as a supplement to existing water main systems so that a much greater volume of water can be brought to bear upon a fire than could be supplied by the hydrants in the immediate area of the fire.

It will be understood that the invention is susceptible to considerable modification and that the arrangement of the elements on the tractor and trailer can be modified as the purpose demands.

I claim:

I. Firefighting equipment comprising a pumper including a first tractor and a first trailer, a tender including a second tractor and a second trailer, a high pressure, high capacity pump mounted on said first trailer, said pump having a plurality of suction inlets and a plurality of pressure outlets, an engine mounted on said first trailer for driving said pump, a nozzle monitor mounted on said second tractor and a plurality of reels on said second trailer receiving hoses for connecting said outlets of said pump to said nozzle monitor.

2. The firefighting equipment set forth in claim 1, comprising means on said second trailer for rotating said reels to pay out and retrieve the hoses on said reels and means for winding said hoses levelly on said reels.

3. The firefighting equipment set forth in claim 1 comprising extendable and retractable Outriggers on said second tractor for stabilizing said nozzle monitor, and means on said second tractor for extending and retracting said outriggers.

4. The firefighting equipment set forth in claim 3 comprising releasable means for locking said Outriggers when extended.

5. The firefighting equipment set forth in claim 1 comprising reversible motors on said second trailer for rotating said reels clockwise and counterclockwise to pay out and retrieve said hoses, and a level wind mechanism adjacent to each reel and operable therewith for laying said hoses levelly on said reels.

6. The firefighting equipment set forth in claim 1 comprising racks on said first and second trailers for receiving hard hoses for connecting said suction inlets to sources of water.

7. The firefighting equipment set forth in claim 1 in which said pump is a multi-stage centrifugal pump having an output capacity between about 4400 and 8800 gallons per minute at a pressure between about 700 and 350 pounds per square inch.

8. The firefighting equipment set forth 111 clim 5 Coinprising auxiliary controls at the end of said second trailer remote from said second tractor for actuating said re- References Cited by she Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,551,251 8/25 Hopkins 242-1583 Maddin 2 2804 X Yost 169-24 Geei'tz 16924 Carpenter 16924 McNair 169-24 Lutz 103-108 Ohrmann.

Medlock 169-24 X Brady 24286.5

0 LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

EVERETT W. KIRBY, Examiner. 

1. FIREFIGHTING EQUIPMENT COMPRISING A PUMPER INCLUDING A FIRST TRACTOR AND A FIRST TRAILER, A TENER INCLUDING A SECOND TRACTOR AND A SECOND TRAILER, A HIGH PRESSURE, HIGH CAPACITY PUMP MOUNTED ON SAID FIRST TRAILER, SAID PUMP HAVING A PLURALITY OF SUCTION INLETS AND A PLURALITY OF PRESSURE OUTLETS, AN ENGINE MOUNTED ON SAID FIRST TRAILER FOR DRIVING SAID PUMP, A NOZZLE MONITOR MOUNTED ON SAID SECOND TRACTOR AND A PLURALITY OF REELS ON SAID SECOND TRAILER RECEIVING HOSES FOR CONNECTING SAID OUTLETS OF SAID PUMP TO SAID NOZZLE MONITOR. 